Canon City News

Cañon City Water Department celebrates water week with open house

Residents invited to open house Thursday at water treatment plant

By Carie Canterbury

The Daily Record

Posted:
05/04/2016 06:56:04 AM MDT

Travis Payne, chief plant operator for the Cañon City Water Department, and Bob Hartzman, water superintendent, pose for a photo Monday in the plant's East Filtration Room. (Carie Canterbury / Daily Record)

Bottom's up to all who love a fresh, cool drink of water.

The Cañon City Water Department invites the public to have an extra glass of water in honor of National Drinking Water Week that runs May 1-7.

In honor of the designation, the department invites the community to an open house and tour of the water treatment plant from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday. The plant is located just off West U.S. 50, by taking the Tunnel Drive exit and following the signs. Representatives from the department also will be stationed along Main Street during Saturday's Blossom Parade that begins at 1 p.m., handing out complimentary water.

"This is a national thing across the country," said Bob Hartzman, water superintendent. "It's where water suppliers try to get the word out to customers about drinking water and the importance of it."

It also goes hand in hand with watershed protection and making sure people take proper measures to not pollute water, he said.

"You hear a lot of it in the stormwater realm, making sure you're not flushing pollutants down the curb line, like motor oil, paint, herbicides, pesticides, because all of that will go down in the storm sewers and go into the river directly," Hartzman said.

National Drinking Water Week also is a good time to remind consumers to use water efficiently by not letting the tap run unnecessarily and irrigating early in the morning or late in the evening.

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Out of all the local municipal departments, perhaps one of the most unseen and under-appreciated is the water department.

But that's a good thing.

"Water is important to everyone, and it's something we're always going to need," Hartzman said. "As long as it comes out of the tap and goes down the drain, a lot of folks don't give it much thought. In a sense, I kind of like it that way because it means they are happy customers."

Water provided by the City of Cañon City undergoes a rigorous testing process.

"We take it very seriously," said Travis Payne, chief plant operator . "It's a heavy responsibility."

The department closely monitors the water it gets from the Arkansas River with regular testing for corrositivity, lead, copper, fluoride and bacteria.

"Lead and copper testing is done every three years," Hartzman said. "We are on a reduced monitoring schedule because our results have been favorable."

Payne said Cañon City's drinking water is high quality, and he wouldn't hesitate to compare it to that of any community.

"I'd have no problem taking the 'Pepsi challenge' with anybody in the country, really," he said. "We do a stand-out job here."

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